Release #182-98

--Street in Bath Beach Named After Famed New York Post Photographer--

--Remarks By Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani At Public Hearing On Local Laws--

The second bill before me is Introductory Number 65, sponsored by Council Members Golden, Fusco, O'Donovan and Abel. This bill would add, through the posting of an additional sign, the name "Louis Liotta Way" on Bay 13th Street between Bath Avenue and Cropsey Avenue in Brooklyn.

Louis Liotta was born on January 2, 1921, the second of five children of Charles and Lillian Liotta, in the Bath Beach section of Brooklyn where he was to be a lifelong resident. Mr. Liotta began his career in news photography at age 14, as an apprentice engraver in the employ of the old "Acme" Photo Agency. His first job for Acme was caring for carrier pigeons that were used to carry film from Brooklyn Dodger baseball games, at Ebbets Field, to Acme's offices in Manhattan.

He joined the United States Navy at age twenty and became the official photographer on the Battleship Missouri during World War II. After World War II, Mr. Liotta went to work for the New York Post where he spent fifty years as a photo journalist. In his half century at the Post he covered almost every major story of the time, including such major trials as "Murder Inc.". He photographed hundreds of celebrities and almost every United States President from Harry Truman to Bill Clinton. His unique photographic style earned him almost two hundred awards and made him one of the pre-eminent photo journalists of his time.

Louis Liotta died on Friday May 30, 1997 at age seventy-six. He is survived by his wife Mildred, three sons, Charles, Louis and Robert, a daughter, Mary-Ann, and nine grandchildren. In recognition of his professional excellence, his heritage of hundreds of poignant, dramatic and unforgettable photographs, and his devotion to family and community, it is fitting that Bay 13th Street between Bath Avenue and Cropsey Avenue, where Louis Liotta was born, be called "Louis Liotta Way".